29.11.17

Libyan cleared of US envoy’s murder in Benghazi, convicted of terror

(FILES)
This file photo taken on September 10, 2012 shows a vehicle (R) and the
surrounding buildings burn after they were set on fire inside the US
consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012. A Libyan man
accused of masterminding the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed a US
ambassador and three others was acquitted on November 28, 2017 of murder
but convicted on lesser terrorism charges. After a seven-week trial in a
civilian court in Washington, a jury cleared Ahmed Abu Khattala — the
first person tried over the fiery raid on the US complex in the Libyan
coastal city — of the most serious of the charges he faced / AFP PHOTO /
STR

A Libyan man accused of masterminding the 2012 Benghazi attack that
killed a US ambassador and three others was acquitted Tuesday of murder
but convicted on lesser terrorism charges.
After a seven-week trial in a civilian court in Washington, a jury
cleared Ahmed Abu Khattala — the first person tried over the fiery raid
on the US complex in the Libyan coastal city — of the most serious of
the charges he faced.
Prosecutors were apparently unable to prove to the jury that
Khattala, leader of a militant group who had been photographed watching
the attack on September 11, 2012, was directly to blame for the deaths
of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, a second state department
official, and two CIA contractor guards at the consulate and a CIA
annex.

He was convicted of only four of 18 charges he faced: supporting
terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, carrying a
semi-automatic weapon during a violent crime, and damaging US property.
That was far weaker than the picture prosecutors had presented of
Khattala as the person who plotted and directed the deadly assault. Test case
His trial was seen as a test case for foreign terror suspects forcibly
brought to the United States and placed before civilian courts.
“Ahmed Abu Khattala is being held responsible for executing a brazen
terrorist attack against the United States,” said FBI Counterterrorism
Division Assistant Director Grant Mendenhall.
“This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s ability to investigate
terrorist attacks against Americans even in the most difficult
conditions, determine who perpetrated the acts and bring those actors to
justice,” he said in a statement.
The 2012 attack, undertaken on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11
attacks, was carried out by some 20 men armed with grenades and heavy
weapons.
Stevens and the second State Department official, Sean Smith, died of
smoke inhalation after the consulate caught fire, while the two CIA
contractors, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were killed in the firefight
by mortar rounds.
US prosecutors said Khattala was at the scene in regular contact with
the attackers via cellphone before, during and after the assault.
The death of Stevens stunned Americans and became the focus of a
politically charged investigation by congressional Republicans of
then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was accused of not
protecting the diplomats.
Khattala was captured in 2014 in a raid by US special forces, who
then placed him aboard a navy ship where he was interrogated for a week
before being delivered to the United States.
The raid and the legal case were based in part on a Libyan informant,
an associate of Khattala, who was eventually paid a $7 million reward
and granted asylum in the United States.Possible life sentence
Khattala faces a total of 50 years in prison for the terror and
destruction offenses, and up to life in prison for the weapons charge.
No date for sentencing was set.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo released a statement saying: “Today, a small measure of justice was meted out.”
“We lost two of our own that night — Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods —
who ran to the sound of the guns and bravely fought to protect Americans
and the two US facilities that were attacked.”
The US continues to pursue other attackers in the case. On November 4
a second Libyan accused of involvement in the Benghazi attack, Mustafa
al-Imam, was put on trial in the same Washington court, days after being
captured and brought to the United States.
Al-Imam was accused of being one of the men who attacked the consulate.